Arezou Esmaeeli

Bryan Dunn

English 2, 6th Hour

29 February 2016

 

Good Short Story Elements in The Bees by Dan Chaon

 

Stories are a daily part of our lives. Human beings enjoy reading various different kinds of genres. However, sometimes they will enjoy other genres as well. Why is that? Why is it that we are accepting of different types of stories? The reason being is that stories that we love have a certain layout. They include conflict, are detailed and creative. The short story The Bees by Dann Chaon include all three of these elements. The genre of the story is horror, which is a genre I do not like. However, I enjoyed this story very much.

The story involves a lot of internal and external conflict. In my opinion, conflict is what drives the story. If there is no conflict, then there is no problem. The characters are living happy, simple lives, and that doesn’t sound like something I would want to read. The first conflict we see in the story is the fact that Frankie, the five year old son, screams randomly during the nighttime. The parents, Gene and Karen, have no idea why the child is acting like this. Frankie himself has no memories as to what he did, and the doctor says there is nothing wrong! Conflict number one, what is wrong with the child? Another conflict we see is internal. It is between Gene and his past self. Gene used to be a severe alcoholic who married a woman, Mandy, he got pregnant. He leaves them after he becomes abusive towards Mandy. Gene now has a new wife and son and is living a better life. He wonders what happened to his ex wife along with his past son, D.J. He wants to know where they are, so he can finally start being the father he should have been. He wants to start paying the child support. “He’d tried to contact them….Mandy was no longer living in the small Nebraska town where they’d met and married, and there was no forwarding address” (270). Conflict number two, will he ever be able to find Mandy and apologize? This story is full of external and internal conflict and the conflict give a very nice creepy/scary vibe to the story.

 

Details are also an important element in story writing. I think it wouldn’t be a very nice story if I can’t imagine the situations along with the setting. I like to be able to visualize the story, as if I am the one experiencing different situations.I like to be able to get a pretty good image of different characters. If there are not enough details in the story, the story seems somewhat bland. “Dj has been an unusually skinny child, with the head like a baby bird and long, bony feet with toes that seemed strangely extended, as if they were meant for gripping” (278).   DJ is described very nicely here. DJ allows me to feel a bit spooked out by his character based off of his appearance. His appearance reminds me of a demon spawn, something evil. Details help build up the story. It makes it easier for an image of what is happening in the story to play through one’s head, that is why I think details are vital parts of the story. Details also allow for assumptions to be made. The Bees is very open ended. We don’t know what has happened to Mandy or DJ. We don’t know who burnt down the house, but we can develop logically theories as to what happened based off of key details throughout the story.

 

Creativity is what allows for the story to stand above the rest. Many stories now a day are quite cliche, the same story repeated with different characters. Creativity helps the story stick in the mind because of how different it was written. A lot of horror movies are simply a few jump scares here and there along with a story of how a demon has possessed another character. It gets quite old. This story on the other hand was just a right amount of spooky and creativity that it was hard for me not to enjoy it. The Bees went above and beyond when keeping it creative. The details and the conflicts were some that I have never heard of before. “And then he realizes that he is naked. He sits up, covering his crotch self-consciously with his hands, and glances around” (279). Gene has just been woken up by Karen after having a flashback of his life when DJ and Mandy were involved. The flashback involves Gene scolding DJ for talking with a baby accent, and DJ hissing at him in response. This is a very odd exchange, but indirect characterization about DJ is developed because of his creepy actions. During the flashback, Gene describes DJ saying there was something malevolent about him. It begs the question, how did Gene end up completely naked with none of his clothes to be seen?  Could it be that DJ did all that? After Gene comes home from work that night, his wife is worried that Gene has started drinking behind her back. She says that she received a call from someone named DJ and, “And he said to tell you that he had a good time hanging out with you last night, and that he was looking forward to seeing you again soon” (281). DJ is the name that the guy mentioned during the phone call. The story doesn’t openly say who is causing Gene’s life to go downhill, but through a series of crazy and unreal events, the reader feels spooked. The story doesn’t necessarily include spirits or ghosts. The story is quite open ended, so it is up for the reader to theorize many characters’ fates. Causing many different adaptations for the story to form, along with different endings making it so that not everyone has read the exact same story.

 

Stories are something that many people enjoy. I read a lot, and after consecutively reading the same book genre; I realize that the story lines for the books are the same. I now read a variety of different books, all interesting and new to me because I haven’t experienced the conflicts the characters have or imagined the settings.I’m not saying that stories that don’t follow the guidelines have been badly written. By all means, read as much as you can and read what you like. However, it doesn’t hurt to come out of your shell and try something new. Elements of conflict, details and creativity have been key components in many widely known stories.